To honor Dr. Tom Frieden’s legacy as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and in recognition of his profound impact on the health of America and the world, the CDC Foundation has launched the Tom Frieden Future Leaders Fund. This fund supports three CDC-led programs about which he cares deeply—the Public Health Associate Program (PHAP), the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) and the recently-established Laboratory Leadership Service (LLS) fellowship program. These three programs provide vital early-career training and hands-on experience for individuals interested in public health and related professions.

The CDC Foundation provided an initial lead gift of $20,000 to encourage additional support from individuals, philanthropies and the private sector.

The need for public health fellowships, training and development programs is more critical than ever, as the United States experiences an unprecedented public health workforce crisis. Some estimates indicate 250,000 more health workers are needed to maintain current capacity. A robust public health workforce is vital to ensuring the health, safety and security of America and the world.

The fund will build on Dr. Frieden’s life-saving legacy by enhancing and amplifying the impact of CDC’s PHAP, EIS and LLS programs. The goal of the fund is to fill existing gaps, increase impact and facilitate innovative opportunities in areas including enhancing program curricula and recruitment efforts; enabling involvement in emerging outbreaks for EIS teams; engaging additional expert faculty; and increasing partnerships to connect graduates with public health job needs.

Please join with the CDC Foundation to honor Dr. Frieden and ensure that future leaders have the training and support that is crucial to securing a safer, healthier world for all of us.

In 1984, Drs. Bob Chen and Katy Irwin learned that an international member of their Epidemic Intelligence Service class was going to have to quit the two-year program because her funding had fallen through at the last moment. Because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had no way of providing financial assistance to international participants in its varied public health training courses, the two young physicians decided to remedy this situation by establishing the Atlanta International Health Fellowship (AIHF) program.

With help from other CDC employees and retirees, they set about raising funds and then formed a partnership with Emory University, which provided free tuition to one individual each year to attend Emory's International Course in Applied Epidemiology. They also formed a partnership with Villa International, which provided free housing to the AIHF recipient.

In 1997, a grant from The Tull Charitable Foundation was added to existing funds, and the Atlanta International Health Fellowship became the first endowed fund at the CDC Foundation. Since the first fellowships were awarded in 1991, 25 individuals from over 22 countries have received stipends to cover costs of travel, tuition and lodging as they enrich their public health expertise at CDC.

Fellowship Overview

The CDC-Hubert Global Health Fellowship, endowed by the O.C. Hubert Charitable Trust is designed to encourage students to think of public health in a global context. Established in 1999, the fellowship provides an opportunity for third- and fourth-year medical and veterinary students to gain public health experience in an international setting. Hubert fellows spend six to twelve weeks in a developing country working on a priority health problem in conjunction with CDC staff. Through these experiences, students establish relationships with, and receive training from, recognized experts from CDC and other national and international health agencies. Examples of students’ past experiences include:

• Health outcome evaluation of various home drinking water treatment and storage methods in Guatemala
• Review of antiretroviral therapy in private practice, Kenya
• Study of the epidemiology of Lassa Fever in rural Guinea, West Africa
• Development of surveillance systems for surgical site infections, antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance in a tertiary surgical center in Hanoi, Vietnam

Each year, a limited number of fellows are selected to participate in the program and receive a stipend to cover travel costs. Fellowship opportunities vary each year.

For eligibility and application information, please visit www.cdc.gov/HubertFellowship.

For more information, please email hubertfellowship@cdcfoundation.org.